Sheikah

[Mases]

What exactly happened to this race?

In the Ocarina of Time, I believe it was said that the Sheikah were the original inhabitants of Kakariko Village. The Sheikah were loyal members of the Royal Family, thus Impa, the Sage from Ocarina of Time, who was also somebody that took care of Princess Zelda.

Impa is the only confirmed member of the Sheikah race that we have encountered. Impaz from the Hidden Village within Twilight Princess said something about being a decendent and is the last of the Sheikah. (Not sure exactly what she said). Although since her name Impaz, resembles Impa, then that would make sense.

So who were all the other Sheikah and what happened for their to be so few in the world of Hyrule? Are there other characters in the series that are actually Sheikah that we don't know of?

[Kybyrian]

I'm pretty that it was said somewhere along the line in Ocarina of Time that the Sheikah were wiped out. How I do not know. Zelda can take on the form of a Sheikah, but really isn't one.

[Chrono]

Yes In Ocarina of Time, Impa was the only Sheikah left, same with Twilight Princess. Zelda is a hylian, not a sheikah...she disguised herself as one,

[Dabombster]

I believe that it was said in OoT that Impa built Kakariko Village, not that the Sheikah were the first to live there.

I think that in the storyline, it says that the Sheikah were nearly wiped out in the Imprisoning War.

[zeypherlink]

In Twilight Princess there was Impaz, and in Ocarina there was Impa(connection O.o ) But thats pretty much it.

[Kybyrian]

They really don't give you too much detail on what happened. Though I still am pretty sure in Ocarina of Time you are told that most of the Sheikah race was wiped out. I'd like to know a little more on that. Like, why can only the Sheikah use Deku Nuts to teleport?

[Claire]

This is kind of similar as "why hasn't Link seen the Picori through-out other games as a child?" the answer is unclear. We can make assumptions as why to things tend to have changed - but I suppose we'll need to wait until Nintendo gives more information on it.

[Chrono]

They really don't give you too much detail on what happened. Though I still am pretty sure in Ocarina of Time you are told that most of the Sheikah race was wiped out. I'd like to know a little more on that. Like, why can only the Sheikah use Deku Nuts to teleport?

Yeah I dont think they use deku nuts. Just because it makes a flash and sounds like one doesnt mean anything. Plus Shiek never really 'disappeared' or teleported. They just move so swift and quickly.

But, I sometimes just go with the conclusion that each Zelda game is apart of its own series. Note that Im not putting any order on this since well..it isnt a timeline.

"The Legend of Zelda > The Adventure of Link"

"A Link to the Past > Link's Awakening...the Minish Cap, Four Swords, Four Swords Adventures"

"Ocarina of Time > Split

Majoras Mask |
The Wind Waker | Twilight Princess
Phantom Hourglass"

"The Oracle Series"

[Onilink89]

I believe that it was said in OoT that Impa built Kakariko Village, not that the Sheikah were the first to live there.

I think that in the storyline, it says that the Sheikah were nearly wiped out in the Imprisoning War.

yeah impa built the village, when you go to the old man with blue clothes near skultulla house in kakariko village when you are an adult, that man tells a story about the eye of truth. if you pay attention to the text (don 't know 100% sure if i'm right) he said also somthing about the man that built this village (so he does not said something about the name). but at the end the man said "his house stood were the well stands now"

so that man is defenetly impa.
why you ask? think about it, when you get the cutscene when kakariko village is on fire, shadow creature escapes from the well, sheik tells you that impa once sealed that monster and trhat impa is on its way to shadow temple.


anyway a other thing that suprised me, is that the sheikans had a different legend about the triforce. (scene when you get the light arrow and zelda reveals herself).
and their legend came true, if you ask me they know more about the triforce then the royal family

[Kybyrian]

Well, I just got to a part on Twilight Princess that I never really understood before, but it makes it clear that Impa built Kakariko. "My name is Impaz. I am named after the one who built this village so long ago."

Impaz, the last resident of the true Kakariko Village, was named after Impa. You can see the relation in their names. Impa - Impaz. The bold part is where you see Impa.

[Chrono]

yeah impa built the village, when you go to the old man with blue clothes near skultulla house in kakariko village when you are an adult, that man tells a story about the eye of truth. if you pay attention to the text (don 't know 100% sure if i'm right) he said also somthing about the man that built this village (so he does not said something about the name). but at the end the man said "his house stood were the well stands now"

so that man is defenetly impa.
why you ask? think about it, when you get the cutscene when kakariko village is on fire, shadow creature escapes from the well, sheik tells you that impa once sealed that monster and trhat impa is on its way to shadow temple.


anyway a other thing that suprised me, is that the sheikans had a different legend about the triforce. (scene when you get the light arrow and zelda reveals herself).
and their legend came true, if you ask me they know more about the triforce then the royal family

Impa is not a man...Impa is Zelda's "nursemaid", she is clearly a woman.

[Onilink89]

you got a huge point there, or impa didn 't build the village, or i said something wrong.
either way next time i will insert OOT again and check that quote again.

[Kybyrian]

Or you can go to Twilight Princess. There is a huge resembelance between Impaz and Impa namewise. Impaz says that she was named after the one who built the village. Both Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess have provided to the fact that Impa built Kakariko. And the Hidden Village is the original Kakariko.

[Mases]

I believe that it was said in OoT that Impa built Kakariko Village, not that the Sheikah were the first to live there.

I think that in the storyline, it says that the Sheikah were nearly wiped out in the Imprisoning War.


That is interested, I don't remember reading about the Sheikah almost entirely dying out during the Imprisoning War. Any clarification on when/where this was said. I'd like to go back and check it out myself, seems interesting.

Seriously though, where did Impaz come from? I mean, there had to be more Shekiah around somewhere in Ocarina of Time. Lets say Impa was a Shekiah. I mean, there is a basic survival problem here. There needs to be more than one of a race for it to survive. Unless of course Impa is a blood relative to Impaz, and there was a non-Shekiah male involved. Although it seems there are at least a few generations between the Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess so I'm not sure how reliable it is.

My theory is that while the Shekiah might be low in numbers, there are definately more than just Impa and Impaz. Perhaps some of the Kakariko Village characters in Ocarina of Time. Maybe some of the Market townsmen. Even characters that live lands that we have not been to.

[Kybyrian]

Yes, where did all the Sheikah go. That's what I was thinking myself. Impaz can't be the only one in Twilight Princess, can she? It says she's been waiting for a certain person, and that certain person has already been revealed, Link. In Ocarina of Time we had 1 Sheikah, and that was Impa. Sheik was just Zelda disguised a Sheikah, so that doesn't count :p I mean, we've only seen 2 Sheikah. I think Nintendo should provide a little more information on the Sheikah.

Ocarina of Time takes place many many years before Twilight Princess. If Impa was the only Sheikah left, then how could Impaz, another Sheikah, still be there many years later? There has to be more Sheikah, otherwise there wouldn't have been a Sheikah in Twilight Princess.

[MiniMeMilo]

Maybe the Sheikah can asexually reproduce... It makes sense if you think about it. They're not actually human, so it could be possible. Not to mention that there is only one proven Sheikah in the whole series so far: Impa. I've only seen 3 others who could be Sheikahs, and if there's more please feel free to add to my list:

-Impa is a proven Sheikah, no discussion needed here.
-Sheik could possibly be a Sheikah, but being a member of the royal family it is unlikely.
-Impaz has a strong resemblence to the stereotypical Sheikah; white hair and red eyes. She also has a name that resembles Impa, the only proven Sheikah thus far.
-Madam Fandi, the fortune teller in TP, has the Sheikah emblem on her forehead and red eyes.

[Kybyrian]

Impaz actually IS a Sheikah. Sheik is not a Sheikah, as it is Zelda's disguise. She disguises herself as a Sheikah, but doesn't become one. Impaz and Impa are the only 2 known Sheikah in the series that it comes out and shows.

[Twili123prince]

Maybe bongo bongo killed all the sheikah.And if that did happen since impa was the only one left maybe thats why shes a sage......

[Brandon]

That is interested, I don't remember reading about the Sheikah almost entirely dying out during the Imprisoning War. Any clarification on when/where this was said. I'd like to go back and check it out myself, seems interesting.

Seriously though, where did Impaz come from? I mean, there had to be more Shekiah around somewhere in Ocarina of Time. Lets say Impa was a Shekiah. I mean, there is a basic survival problem here. There needs to be more than one of a race for it to survive. Unless of course Impa is a blood relative to Impaz, and there was a non-Shekiah male involved. Although it seems there are at least a few generations between the Ocarina of Time and Twilight Princess so I'm not sure how reliable it is.

My theory is that while the Shekiah might be low in numbers, there are definately more than just Impa and Impaz. Perhaps some of the Kakariko Village characters in Ocarina of Time. Maybe some of the Market townsmen. Even characters that live lands that we have not been to.

The Shekiah could not have been nearly killed off during the imprisoning war because that would mean ganondorf was imprisoned before OoT which can't be true because OoT is supposed to be Ganon's first appearance.

Also, Impaz can be a descendent of Impa without being a Sheikah. Actually since we are told that man built the village, Impaz is probably not a descendent of Impa at all unless Impa herself is a descendent of the man who built the village. In either case the name is likely of cultural significance and may be very common among Shekiah and their descendants. The name also does not in itself show or even suggest that Impaz is Sheikah since we have characters named Impa in the oracles games and the AoL intro which all would have happened much much after the shekiah were gone. Impa may well have been the last true Shekiah, but that doesn't mean she didn't make provisions for her descendents to preform certain duties.
Since Minish cap is supposed to happen earlier, I think we should look for evidence of the Shekiah in it. It is pure speculation, but the Shekiah may be related somehow to the sky tribe. I have little foundation for this however other than the fact that it could conveniently explain a lot.

[MajoraKing12]

Sheikah is princess zelda in orcania of time.and to me she is just awesome! but that is just me.

[Inflexus]

http://www.ckasper.com/zelda_website.jpg

If you look, she has the eye of truth symbol on the back. I don't know if it's there in TP, but assuming it is, it is possible that the Sheikah bloodline never died out because it was passed on through Princess Zelda.

That's a good way of ensuring it's survival, actually. It also shows that sheikah are not necessaraly pure-blooded.

[blackice_cc]

Huh, well that's very interesting. If somehow the Royal family interbred with the Sheikah then that would be a good way to keep the Sheikah's species alive. Maybe Zelda in OoT is actually Impa's and the kings daughter, and that is how she is able to turn into Sheik at will, as well as why the TP Zelda has the eye of truth symbol on her back. If you remember Sheik from OoT, he/she (Maybe Sheik is a male alter-ego of Zelda, or maybe Sheik is just Zelda's disguise) had the Eye of truth sign on his/her chest.

[Onilink89]

i had to post this, i was reading at zeldawiki about MM when i came to an article about kafei. not at wiki it said kafei could possbly be a sheikah, because of its red eyes. now i don 't see any connection with sheikah and MM but you also find the mask of truth and the lens of truth in the game.

here is the link.
http://zeldawiki.org/Kafei

[Mike Pothier]

The only two logical explanations I can think of:

1) Not all the Sheikah were killed off before OoT, but enough were that the remaining members went into hiding, and Impa remained as their representative to the Royal Family. If this is true, then it would be a good explanation of where Zelda has been hiding and apparently training. She was a convincing Sheikah during the later years of OoT.

2) Perhaps, and this is going out on a limb here, the Sheikah are not a race but a group of learned people who use shadow magic, and using it turns their eyes red and hair white.

[Chris]

Now, I am pretty sure that the Sheikah race was wiped out when Ganondorf took over. He probably killed all the members of the Sheikah race except for Impa who got away.

[angelkid]

This is a very interesting topic. I'd never really thought of this before. I thought perhaps the riddle was explained in another LoZ game which I hadn't played yet.

Well I have a few theories.
MY first, is that, perhaps it is possible to become a shiekah Rather than having to be born one. I actually always thought of them as some kind of super human. So perhaps Zelda actually becomes a sheik and is not just disguised.

Another fairely solid theory is just that the surviving sheikahs were all in hiding, as someone said earlier.

As for Kakariko village. I believe it was made by perhaps Impa's father, and she inherited it from him, therefore becoming the guardian of the village. This is when the shadows Come and Impa seals them in the well.

[Zemen]

That symbol (eye of truth) on the back of Zelda's robe IS there in the actual game. I was playing it yesterday and noticed it and thought it was very interesting that it was there. Maybe this is a hint of things to come, a VERY subtle hint.

[Shadsie]

Here's a question:

Are Sheikah essentially Hylians or are they a seperate speices? I've seen a lot of people (in disscussion, fanfiction and such) treat the race as a seperate speices, and personally, I disagree with this theory. I've always thought of them as Hylians, but in an ethnic minority. Beings such as Gorons and Zora are clearly seperate speices, but I have the thought that Hylians, Humans and Sheikah are all a part of a single spieces (Hylians having the genetic glitch/breeding/ethnicity to give them pointed ears and magic-infused blood, humans being pretty much normal, boring humans like the majority of us are, and Sheikah being Hylians that are in a particular cultural group). It's much like how a Native African, an Inuit, a Chinese person and a person of Caucasian decent are, while in different racial and ethhnic groups, all human. We may have a lot of difference in physical trains and loads of cultural differences, but we're all the same speices.

Something which you may or may not find intersting - in the big fanfic I'm working on with a co-writer, we've made "Impa" a title rather than a name. Our particular "Impa" character carries it as a title rather than a name and the title basically means "royal teacher and bodyguard." We haven't gotten to the point in writing where a Sheik makes an apperance - I believe my co-writer wished to make "Shiek" a title, as well. I shall have to consult with her on that.

As far as I figure it, the Shiekah are either a titled cultural order that certain people are born into or allowed to join, or... it's a minority (same species) race/ethnic group.

But I guess any speculation is good, as Nintendo seems to like leaving lots of things a mystery.

[MrMosley]

This is a pretty interesting thing to think about. I used to just think that they were another race. Which still in itself is a easy explanation. Considering there isn't a whole lot of in game information to go on, thats what most people would consider anyways. But I think to have them be an elite group, or regular Hylians who have to train to become Sheikah and learn their magics, would be a better story for them. In that case, there could possibly be Sheikah of other races as well, such as Zoras, instead of just Hylians.

[bellum]

Y'know what happened at the Well. I think that monster in the well that impa was worring about wiped out the Shiekah. I do believe the Impaz is somehow related to Impa in OoT.

[basement24]

I never thought it was a race, but rather some kind of secret society called the Sheikah. This is how Zelda disguised herself as one of them. Also, I never though Impa looked any different than the Hylians, so maybe she was a Hylian that was a member of the Sheikah.

[angelkid]

Someone else mentioned earlier that once you became a Sheikah you would get white hair and red eyes, and I think other people have accepted the fact that once you become a Sheikah you will somehow get white hair and red eyes. I understand why people think this, merely because Impa, the only person we can be certain is a Sheikah has these. However, I think this is completely unrelated. For all we know Impa could just be an albino and therefore other Sheikah would have normal hair and eyes.

I also support the theory that it is possible to be a Sheikah, though i have just had another idea. Perhaps Sheikah's are like the shades from the inheritance series by Christopher Paulini (Eragon, Eldest, Brisngr) and occur only once every given amount of time, there can only be one in existence at once, or, it is very rare for there to be more than one. They are born with a certain mark denoting them as a Sheikah.

What I am trying to say is, perhaps Sheikah's aren't a species or a kind of super human, but an occurrence. Like a genius or say a disabled person. Something which occasionally happens making a hylian child a Sheikah.

[blhand26]

I'm gonna go with the theory that I think was stated some posts ago.
That Shiekah's ARE Hylian, and in order to become one you have to train in some secret remote temple.
(Sorta like ninjas but cooler.):nod:

[bellum]

Who knows, maybe Death Mountain Erupted and killed all the Shiekah? The possibilities are Endless.

[Zelda master 12]

Impa's house wasnt were the well was, a gaurd says so when you talk him in front of the house on the right side of town